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When the OL doesn't create a massive hole in which the RB can accelerate however, LF more often than not puts his shoulder down and picks up 2-3 yards and be done with it. Now there's definitely a fine line here, as sometimes you do want your RB to do that. But there were several plays where I saw (or felt) that the lanes would open up if LF showed more patience instead of simply bulldozing his way in.

 

On the other hand, I thought Cook did a much better job of taking those 2-3 yard gains if that's all there is. But at the same time, I thought he also did as good a job on runs that should have been -3 yards that he turned into 3 or 4 yard gains.

 

Also going back to "big plays". Majority of LF's big plays are when the OL blasts holes through for him and he basically bursts through it, maybe make one-cut, then explode into the secondary where he turns on his jets and does the rest.

 

While you see some of these with Cook, there were just as many runs where the run looks like a 3-4 yard gain for most normal backs, but his vision, patience, and burst turns it into a huge play.

 

This is essentially what has kept me from liking Fournette at four. 

 

I believe it's Fournette's lack of lateral agility and quickness that keeps him from being able to improvise at the line of scrimmage when there is no hole. You put it down to patience/vision/burst, which also makes sense. 

 

Folks like to call him an "AP-level-prospect"  but you may never see the following type of improvisation at the LOS from Fournette because he doesn't possess that type of lateral agility or quickness: 

 



 

The few times you see Fournette improvise his way out of contact behind the LOS, he simply overpowers one guy.  That will get harder to do on the next level. More often he gets tripped up quickly when the gaps are filled.  

The vast majority of his big runs at LSU came straight through gaping holes up front. 

AP took the run in the above clip to the house, BTW. When Fournette does manage to bounce outside after contact, he's usually tripped up after a modest gain.  It's not that he has zero ability to move laterally and improvise, but that part of his game pales in comparison to the better NFL backs IMO. 

 

I still believe he can do great things for an NFL team possessing an O-Line that consistently gives him a lane, but I doubt his impact on a team with an average or worse line. I'm not trying to blast the guy. I think he's a first rounder.  I just don't see a complete enough skill set to take him at 4. 

 

 

(clip:  www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000540258/Adrian-Peterson-highlights)  ^

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